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Album cover. Columbia (CK 46796) (1990)
Home for Christmas is the thirtieth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on September 11, 1990, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Gary Smith, with Dolly serving as executive producer. It is Dolly's second Christmas album, following 1984's Once Upon a Christmas with Kenny Rogers. Unlike Once Upon a Christmas, which featured a number of original songs, Home for Christmas is made up of ten Christmas standards. It peaked at number 74 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart upon release and number 29 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart in 2020. The album's release was accompanied by an ABC television special, Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home. The album has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Track listing

  1. First Noel (Public Domain) 4:03
  2. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) 1:52
  3. I'll Be Home for Christmas (Kim Gannon, Walter Kent) 3:13
  4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Johnny Marks) 3:25
  5. Go Tell It on the Mountain (Public Domain) 2:50
  6. The Little Drummer Boy (Katherine Kennicott Davis, Kenny Onorati, Henry Simeone) 4:34
  7. We Three Kings (Public Domain) 2:44
  8. Jingle Bells (Public Domain) 1:55
  9. O Little Town of Bethlehem (Public Domain) 2:39
  10. Joy to the World (Public Domain) 4:23

Recording

​The album was recorded in July 1990 at Nightingale Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

Release and promotion

​The album was released September 11, 1990, on CD and cassette.It also received a limited LP release exclusively in the Netherlands.

Television special

​Dolly promoted the album's release with a television special titled Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home. It aired December 21, 1990 on ABC. The special features footage of Dolly in the studio recording the album, visiting and singing with her family at the Tennessee Mountain Home where she grew up, and musical performances filmed at a church and various other locations in the Smoky Mountains.

Critical reception

Thom Owens from AllMusic gave the album 2 out of 5 stars. He criticized the album's production as "a bit too slick," but said that Dolly's "irrepressible charm" makes it a "reasonably enjoyable holiday record."

Commercial performance

The album debuted and peaked at number 74 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart dated December 22, 1990. It spent a total of two weeks on the chart. In 1994, it peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Top Catalog Albums chart dated December 17. The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart dated October 24, 2020.

Accolades

​The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 27, 1994, for shipment of 500,000 copies.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
Performance
  • Dolly Parton – lead vocals, background vocals
  • The Mighty Fine Band
    • Michael Davis – keyboards, percussion
    • Richard Dennison – background vocals
    • Jimmy Mattingly – fiddle, mandolin
    • Jennifer O'Brien – background vocals
    • Gary Smith – piano, B3 Hammond organ, keyboards
    • Howard Smith – background vocals
    • Steve Turner – drums, percussion
    • Paul Uhrig – acoustic bass, bass
    • Kent Wells – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
    • Robert Williams – dobro

Additional musicians
  • Stuart Duncan – mandolin, fiddle
  • Carl Jackson – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Michael Johnson – gut string guitar
  • Jack Smith – steel guitar
  • Alisa Jones Wall – Hammond dulcimer
Additional background vocals
  • Bob Bailey
  • Bobby Jones & Nashville
    • Bobby Jones, Theresa J. Comer, Everett Drake, Nuana Dunlap, Gary E. Jenkins, Lenoria Ridley, Lawrence D. Thomison, Harry Watkins, Angela Wright
  • The Christ Church Pentecostal Choir
    • Jason Beddoe, Coby Coffman, Al Coleman, Melissa Coleman,  Joy Gardner, Landy Gardner, Vicki Pointer, Rebekah Rayborn, Tanya Sykes, Mark Warren
  • Carl Jackson
  • The New Salem Methodist Church Congregation
  • Our Kids
    • Trent Ashcraft, Alyson Chance, Hannah Dennison, Vanessa Hollowell, Jake Hoover, Crystal Hunt, Amy Johnson, Gretchen Johnson, Cole Kiracofe, Ian Kiracofe, Bryan Seaver, Rebecca Seaver, Austin Smith, Brandon Smith, Tiffany Smith, David Turner, Katie Turner, Derek Wells, Dustin Wells
Production
  • Michael Davis – recording assistant
  • Richard Dennison – production assistant
  • Chrissy Follmar – recording assistant
  • Brad Jones – recording assistant
  • Mark Kiracofe – production assistant
  • John King – recording assistant​
  • The Mighty Fine Band – recording, arrangements
  • Gary Paczosa – recording, mixing
  • Dolly Parton – executive producer
  • Denny Purcell – mastering
  • Gary Smith – producer
Other personnel
  • Dennis Carney – photography
  • Tony Chase – styling
  • ​Rachel Dennison – makeup
  • Cheryl Riddle – hair